Posted: 1/05/07

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

2nd Opinion:
Six tips for building better sermons

Every weekend, bold Christians stand up in church and do something many parishioners wish they wouldn’t do: They preach.

They stand inside lofty pulpits, behind lecterns or out among the people. Some hold a Bible; some hold a remote control for advancing electronic slides.

Some have spent hours in preparation; others “phone it in” and hope it doesn’t show.

It’s a strange activity, preaching. Jesus nearly got tossed off a cliff when his first sermon offended his audience. Early preachers Peter and John converted thousands by their preaching—and also got arrested and imprisoned. Stephen was stoned to death after a sermon calling his audience a “stiff-necked people.”

Preachers have been chased out of town, burned at the stake, celebrated as heroes and broadcast to audiences numbering in the millions. Preachers also have been endured, scorned, treated to scathing reviews in the parking lot and fired for “meddling.”

Over the years, as listening skills and attention spans have changed, sermons have gotten shorter—although some would say not short enough. The 60-minute oration of the 19th century might be a 12-minute homily now. Stories have replaced theological discourse. Some preachers use multimedia tools such as slides, film clips and music to deal with attention deficits.

Preachers traditionally focus on Bible passages being read in worship, although some venture into cultural and moral issues, and many, despite the Internal Revenue Service, tackle political issues. Even the boldest preacher, however, is unlikely to abide by the model set by Jesus, who devoted two-thirds of his teaching time to wealth and power and the need to give both away. Every preacher knows that even the devout tend to stone their prophets.

As one who either preaches or listens to sermons every Sunday, I’d like to offer “Six Tips for Preachers”:

• Show your passion. People need to see that this matters to you, that you aren’t just doing a duty. Show your passion for God. Your faith must be on display. Show your passion for your people, that you genuinely care about them and God’s place in their lives.

• Keep it short. Long sermons are an irritant. Jesus’ parables were invariably short. A few well-chosen words will have more impact than many words. Consider Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address.” Short is harder, of course. Short requires focus and discipline.

• Be bold. Preaching is about life and death. It isn’t idle chatter. So what if your words offend? The gospel is offensive. So were the words of the prophets. God’s ways are rarely our ways, and God’s standards exceed our own. We must not sell God or our people short by preaching a safe and harmless word.

• Preach from Scripture to the world. Hold the Bible in one hand and the world in the other. Each needs and informs the other. The prophets spoke not only to ancient Israel but to our world today. The gospel transformed first-century lives in ways God needed them transformed, and the same happens today. The preacher cannot simply explain Bible passages but also must read and explain people’s lives in light of Scripture.

• Tell stories. Definitions, wordplays and cleverly connecting the assigned lessons show that the preacher studied Greek and Hebrew and knows theology. But it is stories that connect. Stories build bridges between life and faith. That’s why Jesus told stories.

• Preach about faith and life. Faith isn’t about theories, doctrines, logic or facts. Faith sees God in life, and life in God, and then faith looks beyond what it sees to imagine the “more” of God. Preaching builds a bridge between faith and life. Preaching walks both directions on that bridge and remembers that the point is a journey of discovery.

Tom Ehrich is a writer, consultant and leader of workshops. His website is www.onajourney.org, and his column is distributed by Religion News Service.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

New Congress displays America’s religious diversity

By Jonathan Tilove

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—The new Congress will, for the first time, include a Muslim, two Buddhists, more Jews than Episcopalians and the highest-ranking Mormon in congressional history.

Roman Catholics remain the largest single faith group in Congress, accounting for 29 percent of all members of the House and Senate, followed by Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Jews and Episcopalians.

While Catholics in Congress are nearly 2-to-1 Democrats, the most lopsidedly Democratic groups are Jews and those not affiliated with any religion. Of the 43 Jewish members of Congress, there is only one Jewish Republican in the House and two in the Senate. The six religiously unaffiliated members of the House all are Democrats.

The most-Republican groups are the small band of Christian Scientists in the House (all five are Republican), and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (12 Republicans and three Democrats)—though the top-ranking Mormon in the history of Congress will be Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, the incoming Democratic majority leader.

Baptists divide along partisan lines defined by race. Black Baptists, like all African-American members of Congress, are Democrats, while most white Baptists are Republicans. Notable exceptions include incoming House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., and Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., who will serve as president pro tem in the new Senate, making him third in succession to the presidency after the vice president and House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

Because 2006 was such a good year for Democrats, they have regained their commanding advantage among Catholics, which had slipped during an era of GOP dominance. In Pennsylvania alone, five new Democrats, all Catholics, were elected to Congress in November, including Bob Casey, who defeated Sen. Rick Santorum, a far more conservative Catholic.

In the new Congress, two-thirds of all Catholic members will be Democrats. By contrast, after big Republican gains in 1994, 44 percent of Catholic members of Congress were Republican, noted Albert Menendez, a writer and researcher who has been counting the religious affiliation of members of Congress since 1972.

“It’s a thankless task, but somebody’s got to do it,” said Menendez, 64, who lives in North Potomac, Md., and has published his counts and analysis first with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and more recently in Voice of Reason, the newsletter of Americans for Religious Liberty.

Menendez bases his count on how members of Congress identify themselves. When he did his first tally after the 1972 election, Congress still was much in the sway of a few mainline Christian faiths.

At the time, three mainline Protestant denominations—Methodists, Presbyterians and Episcopalians—accounted for 43 percent of all members of Congress, including 51 senators.

As this Congress convenes, those three will account for just a fifth of Congress, including 32 senators.

Still, all three—especially Episcopalians and Presbyterians—continue to be better represented on Capitol Hill than among the general population.

Through it all, Lutherans have maintained. Menendez said they were underrepresented relative to their population in 1972, with 16 members of Congress, and remain underrepresented today with 17. While their total numbers have held steady, their political allegiance has flipped from 2-to-1 Republican to 2-to-1 Democrat.

Evangelical Christians—a category that cuts across denominational lines—are even more underrepresented, said Furman University political scientist James Guth, all the more so after this year’s defeat of Republican incumbents like Reps. John Hostettler of Indiana and Jim Ryun of Kansas.

Meanwhile, Jews have continued to gain representation in Congress (8 percent in the new Congress) even as their share of the national population has waned (1.3 percent in 2001).

But Jewish numbers in Congress also tend to fluctuate with Democratic fortunes. In a year in which Democrats did well in unexpected places, new Jewish members of Congress were elected from Tennessee, Kentucky, Arizona and New Hampshire, as well as more familiar terrain like Florida and Wisconsin.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

DOWN HOME:
Are you too old to wear corduroys?

Joanna took me shopping, but she didn’t stay long enough to protect me from the sales clerk. Oh, the humiliation.

Like most guys I know, I’m a buyer, not a shopper. The difference is the agenda. A buyer’s agenda is short. He knows what he wants and goes looking for it. Nothing else matters. If he’s shopping for jeans, and the store is selling $65 dress shirts for a nickel, he’ll come home only with jeans. But a shopper’s agenda is open. She may need a blue sweater, but if she sees fuchsia pumps at a great price, she’ll come home with fuschia pumps. And the blue sweater.

As a hard-shell buyer, I prefer to “shop” on the Internet. The Internet eliminates all the challenges of shopping—huge malls, parking, crowds, distractions and sales clerks. You type the name of the item you need, look at the options, make your pick, pay, and you’re done.

But my wife of lo these many years knows that, while I’m pretty good at buying dress shirts online, my wardrobe would look like a uniform if that’s the only way I bought clothes.

So, she took me to the mall.

I “needed” a pair of brown dress slacks, and found them right away and was pretty much ready to leave when she informed me the men’s store had a “buy one pair, get the second pair half off” sale going on. She convinced me if I thought hard enough about my closet, I could come up with another pair of pants that, if I didn’t actually “need,” I could at least wear regularly. And that’s how I came to own a new pair of tan corduroys.

(Oh, yeah, and while I was trying on the pants, Joanna found two sweaters and a shirt. Has she got an eye, or what?)

Once she stacked my new clothes on the sales counter, Jo figured I could take it from there. She announced she was going to run down to one of her favorite women’s stores, and she told me where to meet her.

The sales clerk, Justin, and I got along great while I paid for all the new duds. But when he started packing it all up, he asked: “Where will you wear these corduroys? Around the house?”

What kind of a question is that? I stammered for a second and said something like: “Naw, I usually wear jeans around the house. I’ll wear cords when we go out to eat, and sometimes I’ll wear them to work.”

Sensing my defensiveness, Justin tried to smooth things over. “I’ve always wanted to know, and you seemed like someone I could ask,” he said.

I must’ve looked mystified. Justin explained, “I’m too young to wear cords.”

OK, the kid is half my age, but he didn’t have to make an issue of it. The only reason I didn’t cancel the sale and bust his commission was I feared facing Jo empty-handed. (Plus I really liked those brown slacks.)

Some people think of God like Justin thinks about corduroys. Do you wear your faith only around the house or only at church?

This year, may we possess everyday faith—a durable, active relationship with God that goes wherever we go.

–Marv Knox

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

EDITORIAL:
Prophecies needed for coming year

A few years ago, (Actually, exactly seven years ago, January 2000. Remember Y2K?) our Sunday school quarterly focused on apocalyptic literature—mystical passages from the Old Testament books of Zechariah and Daniel, as well as mesmerizing passages from the New Testament book of Revelation. The first Sunday, our classroom nearly burst. We started the lesson several minutes late because we had to haul in chairs for all the folks who came to hear the teacher predict The End of the World as We Know It.

Within 30 minutes, I conducted the most effective ensmallment campaign in the history of Sunday school. The majority of our first-time visitors weren’t impressed when I told them: “Every passage in the Bible meant something to the people who first heard or read it. Sustained by the power of the Holy Spirit, it meant something to each succeeding generation. Thank God, it also means something for us today. But we would be indescribably arrogant to assume biblical prophecy meant nothing to all the believers in all the years up until now and was written only for people alive today.” Most of the newcomers never came back. If you can’t get the inside scoop on what the Mark of the Beast really looks like and determine the true identity of the Antichrist, why bother with Bible study?

This episode returned to memory Jan. 2, when televangelist Pat Robertson predicted a terrorist attack would produce “mass killing” in the United States this year. Oh, really. This from the TV preacher who predicted the U.S. coast would be “lashed by storms” and the Pacific Northwest would be smashed by “something as bad as a tsunami,” both of which could happen randomly but both of which have not come true.

When you think about it, you can understand why religionists like Robertson stir up a following. People are curious. They want to know the future, whether it’s the next terrorist attack, or a wave the size of Mount Rushmore, or the date when Jesus returns. That’s why pastors who put on “biblical prophecy” seminars make money. Problem is, people confuse prophecy with prediction or, as Beth Newman of the Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond calls it, fortunetelling. But prophecy is something entirely different. “In Scripture, the prophets deliver a word from the Lord that always carries with it a self-judgmental call to repent, to turn to God, to be God's people,” Newman explains.

Instead of glitzy, scary or phantasmagoric predictions, we need true biblical prophecy—application of God’s word, the Bible, for our times. This is incredibly hard to do. For starters, prophecy requires courage. When you read the Old Testament, you realize prophets told people what they didn’t want to hear and got in trouble for it. Prophecy also demands humility. A true prophet stands under the prophecy delivered to others; a prophet delivers a call for everybody to repent. Finally, prophecy requires hope. In the short run, prophecy always sounds like bad news. But the prophet believes that if God’s people hear and heed, God will heal.

Prophecy isn’t nearly as fun as prediction. Still, it’s much more important. In 2007, we need to hear prophetic words on many subjects. Some of them include:

• Immigration and education. These are the two greatest public challenges facing Texas. They won’t be resolved as long as the governor and legislators treat them as wedge issues to create political leverage.

• Darfur. Genocide in Sudan—fueled by ethnic hatred and justified by religion—is an indictment against all humanity. We must not look away.

• Clergy sexual abuse. Although the vast majority of pastors and priests are upright and moral, clergy who prey on women and children threaten the cause of Christ and could cripple the church.

• Taxes versus children. We want government to be responsible with our money. But where did so many citizens get the notion all taxation is evil? Something is wrong with our morals when we cut services to poor children in order to provide tax breaks to the rich. (Don’t just say, “It’s the church’s job.” No church does its share to provide all the human services for all the poor in its community. Besides, why should the heathen get a pass on helping others?)

• Iraq. We’re for democracy. We love and respect our troops. Most of us care about Iraqis. But we need divine guidance out of this quagmire.

• Faith and life. The religious right’s political attempt to force its worldview upon others failed, as it should. Faith isn’t about coercion, but persuasion. To be authentic, faith must be free.

Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

Graham named among
most-admired in poll for 50th time

By Adelle M. Banks

Religion News Service

WASHINGTON (RNS)—Evangelist Billy Graham has been named in the Gallup Poll’s top 10 “most-admired” men list for a record 50th time.

In a poll taken in mid-December, the 88-year-old evangelist came in fifth.

Ranked before him, in order, were President George W. Bush, former President Bill Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

The men ranking behind Graham, in order, were former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Pope Benedict XVI, former South African President Nelson Mandela, former President George H.W. Bush and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

Graham has been ranked in the poll almost every year the question was asked by the Gallup Organization since 1955.

The only two years when he didn’t rank were in 1976, when the polling firm didn’t ask the question, and in 1962, said Jeffrey Jones, managing editor of the Gallup Poll.

Other frequent top 10 poll finishers are Carter (25 times), George H.W. Bush (17), Clinton (15), Powell (15) and Mandela (15).

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

After 52 years at one church,
pastor has no plans to quit

By George Henson

Staff Writer

SPRING—Earl Hahn, age 84, has served as pastor at Faith Temple Baptist Church in Spring 52 years, and he has no intention of stopping now.

“As long as the Lord lets me, I’m going to keep preaching. I just continue to feel that’s his will for my life,” he said.

When Hahn arrived at Faith Temple from Rural Shade Baptist Church in Cleveland on Dec. 15, 1954, the church was in Hou-ston. Hahn remembers it as a vibrant congregation, active in the life of the community.

The demographics of the community changed, and as membership dwindled, Faith Temple moved about eight miles away. At this second location, in the Scenic Woods section of Houston, Faith Temple enjoyed its heyday, with more than 1,800 members and regular attendance topping 500.

Hahn led the church to sell bonds to enlarge the facility to accommodate the growth. But again, the community began to change, and longtime residents moved away.

“People told me I should just move on and get out of there, but I couldn’t. We still had more than $100,000 in bonds that people had bought, and I couldn’t walk away without those people getting their money back. I had sold those bonds, and I couldn’t see those people lose their money,” Hahn recalled.

Numbers continued to dwindle, but Hahn stayed. His commitment to the people who had supported the church in its building effort was rewarded when the school district bought the property for a sum that allowed all the bonds to be redeemed and left about $100,000.

That money allowed Faith Temple to find new life once more in Spring more than 20 years ago. It has yet to regain its glory years, however.

“It’s been a slow process,” Hahn acknowledged. “When we came here, it was just a country church, but now they’ve started building out here quite a bit now.”

Hahn has remained faithful in visiting people moving into the area, but admits it’s “a slow go.”

But that doesn’t mean he is ready to retire. His love for sharing God’s word and his love for his congregation are as great as they have ever been, he said.

“I love to preach, to open God’s word for the people,” he said. “I believe in getting to the point—no chasing rabbits.”

The greatest part of ministry is obvious, he said. “It’s always a joy to see people come to know the Lord.”

He recalled preach-ing a revival at Pleasant Grove Church in North Zulch years ago when 42 people accepted Christ. “There were a couple of kids, two men in their 80s and all in between. It was great.”

While a student at Sam Houston State College in the ’40s, he was pastor of three small country churches at the same time, he said. “I’ve baptized people in rivers, creeks, stock ponds—whatever was available,” Hahn said.

The 50 to 60 people who attend services each week at Faith Temple are some of God’s best, Hahn said, adding, “I have a wonderful bunch of people here.”

The church has remained committed to missions, he added. The congregation takes a single mission offering with half going to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, one-fourth to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions and the other one-fourth for home missions. The church also contributes regularly to Union Baptist Association, where Hahn is the longest tenured pastor.

Hahn’s son, Johnny, has led the church’s music ministry more than 30 years, and another son, Wayne, is an active member along with his family. His daughter, Debbie, misses many services taking care of Hahn’s wife of 62 years, Joy. Mrs. Hahn was discovered to have blood on her brain on New Year’s Eve, 1995. She never fully recovered from brain surgery, and for about the last five years, she has been almost completely disabled.

Recently, she had to be admitted to the intensive care unit of a Houston hospital, and Hahn is at her bedside for hours each day.

Hahn recalls how she was a large part of his ministry through the years, especially in children’s work and Woman’s Missionary Union. “She was just so smart, she could do anything,” he said.

His health, he said, has been a blessing from God. “I’ve never had to take any medicines or anything, and I’ve always been healthy.”

And because his health allows it, Hahn said, he is going to remain committed to the one who called him so many years ago.

“I guess I’ll just keep preaching until God tells me otherwise. I can’t do anything but be faithful to him.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

Texas Legislature faces critical issues

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

AUSTIN—Texas legislators appear poised to tackle issues that need critical attention, including medical insurance and criminal justice, as the legislature convenes Jan. 9, said Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission Director Suzii Paynter.

“Texas is really at a turning point for its future,” she said. “Unfortunately, we are at sort of the last leg in some very critical areas. Unfortunately, we’re leading the nation in uninsured. Unfortunately, we’re leading the nation in pollution rates. Unfortunately, we’re leading the nation in the dropout rate. These are very critical issues for our state.”

Legislators will examine how to enable more Texans to have medical insurance. Small-business owners have difficulty providing medical insurance for their employees because of the high costs involved. Reductions to Children’s Health Insurance Program and Medicaid in 2003 cut back medical benefits for many economically challenged families.

Pre-session discussions have included the possibility of expanding CHIP, ironing out wrinkles in Medicaid and helping small businesses come together to form larger groups that would qualify for lower insurance rates. Some have proposed expanding gambling in Texas to offset the costs of helping Texans gain medical insurance.

Legislators also are facing a prison system with more inmates than it can manage, and officials argue there is a need for three new prisons. Some legislators have said they would like to move some of the many inmates who are addicted to alcohol and drugs into treatment programs, thereby creating room for other convicts.

A proposal to build coal power plants throughout the state also is generating legislative discussion. Opponents and proponents of the plants are debating the environmental impact the power-generating units will have. Paynter said this is the latest battle in a state that is becoming increasingly polluted.

“Texas, unfortunately, is a battleground right now,” she said. “We used to have a clean-air state. Now we’re one of the most polluted states.”

Paynter said the health insurance, criminal justice and environmental issues will affect many aspects of Texas Baptist life. Decisions made will alter the quality of air Texas Baptists breathe, how Texas Baptist hospitals deliver healthcare and how Texas Baptist churches connect people with social services.

Many of these legislative decisions will directly impact the most underprivileged Texans, most of whom have little voice in the state’s legislature, Paynter said. The CLC helps provide these people a place of influence.

“There are so many paid people at the legislature to represent special interests. It’s important to have credible, reasonable voices there to speak for people who don’t have a paid lobbyist to represent them.”

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

Texas Baptist Forum

‘Fixing’ immigration

The recent well-publicized immigration raid on the Swift & Co. meatpacking plant in Cactus, in the Texas Panhandle, serves as a troubling reminder that our immigration system is broken and needs to be fixed.

• Jump to online-only letters below

Letters are welcomed. Send them to marvknox@baptiststandard.com; 250 words maximum.

“Being in the position I am today, I do feel like a looking glass, where people living in the West can view Islam, and Muslims can view another culture. I feel comfortable looking at both and living in these two distinct zones.” Yusuf Islam The singer/songwriter formerly known as Cat Stevens, speaking about how his 1978 conversion to Islam allows him to live in two different realms (USA Today/RNS) “I’m not in the ‘Who’s Who’ of Baptists. I’m in the ‘Who’s He?’ of Baptists.” Frank Page Dark-horse candidate who won election as president of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2006 (RNS) “Our tolerance is part of what makes Britain, Britain. So conform to it—or don’t come here. We don’t want the hatemongers, whatever their race, religion or creed.” Tony Blair British prime minister (AP/RNS) “You meet the Lord in prayer every day. The idea of meeting him is, while disquieting, not something I think I am afraid of.” Francis George Chicago Roman Catholic cardinal, who was facing surgery for bladder cancer (Chicago Tribune/RNS)

Texas businesses want and need to follow the law. Unfortunately, they lack a sensible and reliable system to verify an employee’s legal status.

Employers are forced to navigate tricky waters each time they make a hire. Texas businesses must deal with complex immigration regulations; a glut of seemingly valid, but sometimes counterfeit, worker identification documents; and the threat of discrimination lawsuits if they ask the “wrong” questions about employees’ documents.

Enforcement alone will not fix our immigration system, and it has failed in the past. We can’t just build walls around a broken system. We need to fix the system to make sure we achieve real security, restore law and order, and have enough workers to continue growing our economy.

It is time for a serious solution to this serious challenge. It is time for Congress to act.

Bill Hammond, president

Texas Association of Business

Austin

Christians & unbelievers

Regarding your editorial, “Wanted: More compelling Christians. How and with whom should Christians cooperate?” (Dec. 4.)

Yes, there are times we must cooperate with Christians of other views and nonbelievers. But Scripture does warn us not to be unequally yoked. I agree with you in that I have a greater problem with Rick Warren associating with the likes of Bill Gates, even though Barak Obama and I are lightyears apart on political views.

I remember a quote by Bob Harrington made many years ago in which he stated, “Jesus associated with the hogs, but he didn’t get in the mud and wallow with them.” That’s where we as Christians (including Warren) must be very careful in our endeavors with those outside our faith. It may get to the point we’re so covered with mud no one can tell us apart.

F.A. Taylor

Kempner

Bigger picture

I am no ostrich hiding my head in the sand. I am as disappointed as many others in light of what has happened to our church-starting funds in the Rio Grande Valley. How important it is for us to look at what our denomination is all about at this time. Associations and conventions enable us to do things as a group that individual churches cannot accomplish on their own. This has not changed.

Over 5,000 overseas missionaries are depending on our support. As one who spent 32 years in another country, I know what it means to be completely free to dedicate oneself totally to the Lord’s work with no worries, knowing that salary, housing, medical needs, and car and its upkeep would be there, regardless. Our missionaries are counting on us—a significant percentage coming through the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

We should never forget that every penny contributed to denominational causes is the Lord’s money and should be handled with reverence. These will, however, always be handled by human beings—sometimes the wrong human beings. But one misstep is dwarfed in comparison to what has been accomplished and will be accomplished with the remaining monies.

Now, more than ever, we must look at the bigger picture. To let up on our giving at this time would simply harm other causes. We know the Lord will multiply our gifts many times over.

Helen Nixon

San Angelo

Right thing

Congratulations to Charles Wade for doing the right thing concerning the Rio Grande Valley probe (Dec. 18).

By turning over the evidence to government officials, this will remove any perceived coverup or protection of supposed friends of anyone working for the convention.  

While this is a step in the right direction, I would like to see him renounce the statements made by the chair upon the advice of the parliamentarians to thwart the will of the convention in session!

This would go even further in healing the division this situation has caused.

Michael Simons

Cleburne

The message of the Baby Jesus

I love it when a brother or sister causes so much scriptural thought as David Page’s letter on “Baby Jesus” (Dec. 18).

The Baby: Scriptural both in the Old Testament and New Testament. I would say it is worthy to be taught. So prevalent at this time of year. Why?  It is the time we celebrate His birth. 

The first Christmas:  A humble Baby, in a humble manger, in a humble barn, with humble worshippers, in humble attire.  The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, born to be a humble servant to die a sinner’s death.  Brother, that’s meat.

As we enter our monuments of worship in our Sunday best, have we really forgotten the message of the “Baby Jesus” ?

Where is our humility?

Ross H. Hardwick

Devine

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

Volunteers warm orphans’
hearts—and feet—in Moldova

By Craig Bird

Baptist Child & Family Services

Clay Palmer handed a thin, poorly dressed Moldovan child new white socks and got the typical excited smile. But what happened next was totally unexpected.

Instead of moving to the next station where volunteers were fitting children for insulated winter boots, the boy grinned broadly and headed back out the door.

“He was just thrilled to be getting a pair of socks. When I called to him and pointed to the volunteers fitting the boots, that grin got even bigger, and he literally started jumping up and down with joy,” Palmer remembered. “How can your heart not break for children who have so little and are so grateful for anything?”

The distribution included a copy of the Gospel of John in either Romanian or Russian donated by the Baptist Union of Moldova.

Palmer, a member of Bethel Baptist Church in New Caney, was one of 48 volunteers from six states who fitted new winter boots and socks on every resident of the 66 government “interstats” scattered throughout Moldova.

The government institutions are mostly orphanages, but they also include facilities housing mentally and physically disabled people, as well as one youth detention facility.

The project, Operation Knit Together, has supplied warm shoes and socks to some Moldovan orphanages since 2000. Last month, after it became part of Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services, the project took on the entire nation and signed formal contracts with the Moldovan government.

Volunteers returned home with intimate memories—a girl in a wheelchair reaching up to help carry the boxes of shoes and socks inside her orphanage, a remote interstat that has running water from a single faucet only three or four times a week, a 7-year-old giving a volunteer the only cookie he would get for weeks as a “thank you,” a mentally handicapped teenager beaming as a hand touched his face and clinging to the hand when the volunteer turned to leave.

“The volunteers worked tirelessly from 6 a.m. and often until 10 p.m. when they could have been home decorating and shopping for Christmas,” noted Dearing Garner, who headed the project. “They smiled at nervous children, tenderly held dirty and smelly feet, took pictures, hugged Moldovans by the hundreds and brought joy and the true spirit of Christmas.

Children in traditional Modovan dress help unload shoes and other supplies distributed by the team from Children’s Emergency Relief International, the overseas arm of Baptist Child & Family Services.

“When we started this six years ago after seeing children suffering from frostbite by going to just a handful of orphanages, we never could have dreamed we’d be sending seven teams over thousands of kilometers to successfully complete a project assigned, funded and enabled by our Lord. We jumped from 30 orphanages last year to 66 this time. The planning and logistics were a challenge. Amaz-ingly, we had shoes to fit each child.”

In addition to paying their own way and helping raise the funds to underwrite the project, the volunteers brought their own gifts—hand-knitted hats and scarves, stuffed animals and small toys that were handed out at the smaller orphanages.

Moldova’s Baptist churches provided the translators for the teams and often helped with the distributions, which included a copy of the Gospel of John in either Romanian or Russian donated by the Baptist Union of Moldova.

Children’s Emergency Relief International and Baptist Child & Family Services have been involved in Moldova since 1999, working primarily with the country’s two largest orphanages that house 500 to 700 children each. Currently, hundreds of youth are supported through sponsorship programs including children in interstats, youth involved in independent living and foster-care children.

Additionally, the agency sponsors camps for orphans in the summer and at Christmas, funds a doctor and provides medicines for the country’s largest orphanage and partners with a rehabilitation program for physically handicapped.

Operation Knit Together drew volunteers and financial support from churches in Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana, North Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania and contributions from Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.

Posted: 1/05/07

On the Move

• Mike Acker to Lebanon Church in Cleburne as minister of youth.

• John Allen to First Church in Godley as minister of youth.

• Gary Anthony to First Church in Temple as minister of music from Gaston Oaks Church in Dallas.

• C.E. Barnett to Mount Pleasant Church in Kosse as pastor.

• Jamie Burkhart to Clearfork Church in Hawley as minister of music.

• David Campbell to First Church in Longview as interim minister of music.

• Jeremy Franks to First Church in Cleburne as minister of children.

• Blake Gearhart to First Church in Rockdale as youth minister.

• David Hartwig has resigned as pastor of First Church in Chillicothe and is available for interims and supply at (940) 838-8383.

• Randy Hatchett to Immanuel Church in Odessa as interim pastor.

• Forest Lowry to First Church in Lexington as interim pastor.

• Gary Lumpkin has resigned as pastor of Temple Church in New Boston.

• James McGlothlin to First Church in San Angelo as intentional interim pastor.

• Lynn McMasters to Texarkana College and Texas A&M University-Texarkana as Baptist Student Ministry director.

• Mark Nelson to Weatherford College as Baptist Student Ministry director from Bethel Church in Buffalo, where he was pastor.

• Randall O’Brien to Trinity Church in San Antonio as interim preacher.

• Mark Riley has resigned as pastor of Immanuel Church in Odessa.

• Paul Smith to Calvary Church in Colorado City as pastor from First Church in Westbrook.

• Josh Stowe to First Church in Monahans as pastor from First Church in Rule.

• Brad Taylor to First Church in Ranger as pastor.

• Laura Wheless to First Church in Farmers Branch as youth director.

• Josh Woodard to Southwest Park Church in Abilene as associate minister to students and media.

• J.J. Young to Alamo Heights Church in Port Lavaca as youth minister.

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Baptist churches, in Texas, the BGCT, the nation and around the world.